Ether 3:12 -- On a God of Truth

"And he answered: Yea, Lord, I know that thou speakest the truth, for thou art a God of truth, and canst not lie."
Ether 3:12


I love the trust that the Brother of Jared had in the Lord here. He knew that the Lord would not decieve him. In reading about this, though, at first I think I was taking an overly literal view and wondering about the "canst not lie" part. I mean, parables could also be lying by one definition, right? Fiction, on some level, is falsehood. It isn't an accurate telling of a real person's life, but rather an invented, imaginary tale.

I guess the whole thing goes back to what is a lie? The 10 commandments don't say anything about lying in general, but instead say that we shouldn't bear false witness (Exodus 20:16, Romans 13:9, Mosiah 13:23)... which is close to the same thing, but perhaps the difference is the intent to decieve. Parables are fictional, but the intent is not to decieve, but to teach.

Since God can't lie, but can still tell fictional stories, I think that the scriptures mesh with the idea that fiction, even though it isn't about real people, is still a valid way to communicate truth. Not that it can't also be used to communicate falsehood or hopelessness, or to promote evil of course, but like anything else, the value of a story lies in how you use it rather than being inherently good or evil based on its nearness to reality.

Today, let's be grateful for our God of truth who is also a consummate and creative storyteller, teaching us through harsh reality sometimes, when we need it, and other times more softly, through fiction. Let's seek and be open to truth, wherever we find it (Articles of Faith 1:13).